1. The Field of the Invention
This disclosure is directed to a conveyor system and a conveying method. In particular, the disclosure is directed to systems and methods for aligning items on a conveyor and structures attached to items for aiding in the alignment.
2. The Background Art
Systems and methods for aligning items on a conveyor are dependent on the weight of the package being conveyed and the frictional coefficients of the package surfaces and the finish of the rollers making up the conveyor. Lighter containers provide less frictional interaction and the container is less likely to be pressed against the rollers in a consistent manner. Additionally, smaller packages may disproportionally distribute weight on a single roller rather than spreading the weight along many rollers and thereby will transmit irregularities and imbalances to the package causing it to change orientation. This is particularly noticeable in the corners on conveyors where the axis of the rollers are set non-parallel to each other.
Protective packaging devices are often used to protect goods from shocks and impacts during shipping or transportation. For example, when transporting articles such as electronics, it is often desirable to cushion the article inside a container to protect the article from a physical impact that may occur to the container and that can occur during transit and/or display in a retail environment. In addition, when shipping articles such as computer components, it is often desirable to protect those components from dust and dirt. Because of these considerations the items being packaged must be placed carefully in the package and an aligned package makes for easier packaging.
In most cases, some additional structure is used to keep the article from moving uncontrollably in the container and thus incurring damage. Such additional structures include paper or plastic packing material, structured plastic foams, foam-filled cushions and the like. Ideally, the article to be packaged is spaced away from the walls defining the container, thus protecting the article from other foreign objects which may impact or compromise the outer walls of the container. These packaging structures are easier to place into an aligned container.
During the assembly of the container with contents therein, placement of the items relative to the container is important for an automated system. Automated systems provide efficiencies of scale during large product shipping runs. Automated conveyor systems often rely on the relative alignment of the components for packaging whether the packaging is done by machine or manually.
For purposes of summarizing the embodiments and the advantages achieved over the prior art, certain objects and advantages of the embodiments may have been described herein. It is within the scope of the disclosure that not necessarily all such objects or advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment. Thus, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or a group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other objects or advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
All of the embodiments described herein are intended to be within the scope of the disclosure disclosed herein. These and other embodiments will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, each having references to the accompanying figures. Noting that the invention is not being limited to any particular preferred embodiments herein disclosed.
The features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the disclosure without undue experimentation. The features and advantages of the disclosure may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.